TRIPOLI, Libya — In the basement of a villa in the city on the Mediterranean, young Libyans
seeking a break from violence watch an American movie classic screened with a projector and
laptop.

They might be able to relate to James Dean’s teenage character as he battles society’s
constraints in
Rebel Without a Cause.

Almost two years after the revolution that toppled dictator Moammar Gadhafi, Libya’s progress
toward democracy has been stalled by political infighting and the growing boldness of the powerful
rebel factions that helped end Gadhafi’s 42-year rule.Frustrated citizens long for an escape.“We
wait patiently every week for the next screening, as these movie classics are unavailable on
television,” said Mohammad Nattah, a 23-year-old medical student. “It’s free and our way of
escaping our current reality.”

Every week, the crowd files to the lower level of the villa, where rows of plastic chairs are
lined up facing a wall, which serves as a screen.

The program ranges from Hollywood mainstays such as
The Godfather to
Ahlaam, a film about the Iraq war. The films are shown with Arabic subtitles.

Screenings are open to everyone, but the organizers try to keep a low profile in Libya’s deeply
conservative society.

Rebel Without a Cause, a 1955 film about a conflicted teenager who gets into trouble and
is misunderstood by his parents, is especially poignant for the audience, whose ages range from 18
to 30.

Discussion after the film is encouraged. The founders of the cinema club want to revive the
Libyan film industry and hope that debates about classics will help achieve the goal.

“I was astonished to discover there is a young generation that understands and appreciates this
art,” said the organizer Khaled Mattawa, a Libyan poet who teaches creative writing at the
University of Michigan.

“My idea was, we have a projector, we have the films and the walls, of course — so why not make
this place our cinema?”